The End is Nigh
by Erin Giles
Summary: "It's the end of the world!" "Again?" *TISSUE WARNING*


TITLE: The End is Nigh  
  
AUTHOR: Erin Giles  
  
RATING: PG (it's a bit angsty but hey that's what I'm good at)  
  
PAIRING: Xander/Anya, Willow/Tara, Buffy/Giles (not in a naughty way)  
  
SPOLIER WARNING: some references to season 4 but not really.  
  
DISCLAIMER: Not one single person in this fic belongs to me. Not even Giles! And it's not fair I tell yah! It's just not fair!  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Fanfiction.net and other than that please ask! It's only polite to do so!  
  
SUMMARY: "It's the end of the world!" "Again?" *TISSUE WARNING*  
  
NOTES: This is set during season 4 but has nothing to do with the Adam story arch or anything that happened in season 4.  
  
FEEDBACK: Pretty please, with sugar on top. And sprinkles! And a cherry! Oh and hundreds and thousands! And also those little chocolate drop things! Plus toffee sauce! What was I asking for. o yeah feedback. em yeah but I don't want the topping's flamed unless of course it makes it look prettier (if that made sense to u then go u!) email me ~ akilahdoyle@hotmail.com  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
Eyes surveyed the encroaching darkness of the small room that they had been left in.  
  
All of them were here now, together.  
  
This was the way it was going to end.  
  
Buffy Anne Summers, the center of the group.  
  
The ringleader.  
  
The commander.  
  
The Slayer.  
  
For that was all she really ever had been.  
  
The Slayer had presided over Buffy Summers long ago and the Slayer was the reason they were all here now.  
  
She sniffed quietly in the small room, trying to hold back tears in those soft blue eyes, trying not to see the carnage before her, counting down to the time it would happen. She shivered slightly as a draft passed over her from some unseen ventilation but she had already checked the whole of the room, coming up with nothing at all.  
  
Now all she could do was wait, all any of them could do was wait. Even if there was somewhere they could escape to everyone was too tired, too hurt to move. Buffy herself was numb from sitting on the cold hard floor for so long. She wanted to get up and move about, stretch her legs, but she couldn't.  
  
Her eyes drifted down from the darkness to the head she had cradled in her lap. The one man, who had stuck by her through all of this, even when he had been fired, told he was no longer needed to watch her. He had been there this past year; even when she had ignored him and she wondered why he was still here now, at the end of it all, standing by her. Only he wasn't standing anymore. He was lying on the ground, his head cradled in her lap, breathing his last breath.  
  
Buffy was terrified, but she would no sooner admit that than Giles would admit he was dying. But she knew he was. She could hear his slow rasping breaths, his pulse fading with every heartbeat. She didn't think she could do this without him, even if the world didn't end and they eventually got out of the cell they had been imprisoned in she knew he wouldn't make it, and she wondered. She wondered if she could do this without him.  
  
'You can't leave me, I can't do this alone.'  
  
Had she not said those very words only two years ago? Had she not admitted last year that she needed her Watcher again, even if he had been fired? She swallowed, gulping back the tears that again threatened to fall as his eyes opened to meet hers. There was an unspoken conversation between the two before a small cry from across the room caught their attention. Buffy watched as Giles' eyes closed as he gave into the darkness before she looked up, across the bleakness of the empty room, searching for recognizable faces,  
  
"Rat." A small frightened voice came out of nowhere and Buffy realized it was Willow.  
  
Willow Rosenberg was her Jewish, recently turned Wicca, best friend who had stuck by her through thick and thin. A smile crept onto her face as she remembered the Willow she had met over four years ago; the small geeky red head who was the prize science nerd. That hadn't mattered to Buffy then and the fact that Willow had become a new person, gay and a witch, didn't matter to her either. She was still Willow, inside out. Whether she was going out with Oz or Tara it didn't matter. Whether she was a super witch or just a whiz on the computer it didn't matter to Buffy. Willow would always be Willow.  
  
She watched as the red head snuggled further into the arms of her hunnie. Buffy didn't know much about Tara McClay. All she knew was that she loved Willow and Willow loved her. She could see it in the way they looked at each other. She looked at Riley the exact same way.  
  
Riley. She could feel tears welling in her eyes again, but she wouldn't let them fall, she wouldn't let her friends see her giving in. She wanted Riley though. She wanted him to hold her in his arms and tell her everything was going to be all right. But everything wasn't going to be all right. Riley Finn was dead and he could no longer comfort her. She hadn't gotten to hold him one last time, she hadn't gotten to kiss him goodbye and tell him that she would always love him. She had only time enough to see him hit the floor before she had been grabbed in shock and dragged along with her friends to wherever they now resided.  
  
Maybe if she hadn't have been in shock, maybe then she could have got free, saved her friends. She told herself she couldn't dwell on that though. It wouldn't change what was about to happen.  
  
She didn't know how much longer she had left, but she found herself gripping Giles hand more tightly without even realizing it. Only when he let out a pained moan did she release her grip slightly. She looked down at him apologetically, unable to find her voice to apologize for what she had done. Apologize for everything that she had done. After all, this was all her fault.  
  
A foot bumped into hers and it gave her a fright, causing her to start and look up, only to find it was Xander's stray sneakered foot. He smiled nervously at her, as if an apology, before wincing. Buffy found herself frowning as her eyes traced the deep cut on his head. Everyone was hurt and bleeding but by the look of Xander's face he seemed to be the worst off, even though she knew that wasn't true. His right eye was badly bruised and he still had blood running down the side of his cheek, dripping onto his shirt collar, but it didn't seem to bother him. She bit her lip as a morbid thought made it's way into her mind,  
  
'Would they put Alexander Lavelle Harris on his grave?'  
  
She pushed that thought away, knowing full well he wouldn't like that but she could hardly comment on it. It just lead to more morbid thoughts and her wondering what her epitaph would be,  
  
'It was her fault.'  
  
Definitely fitting. But since there wouldn't be a world for her to have a grave or a headstone with an epitaph she realized it wouldn't really matter. She was going to be sent to a Hell dimension for this, for sure.  
  
She wondered if Anya would be able to get her a good spot in hell. She knew the ex-demon would come in useful for something someday, other than making Xander happy. Anyanka, once a most powerful feared vengeance demon had been reduced to a woman in love, with Xander Harris of all people, who was now left, scared in her arms. Buffy remembered the few words she had told the others before they had all set out on the battlefield,  
  
'I normally skid addle when an apocalypse comes into town. But now I have friends and I'm in love I'm going to stay with you. Even if we turn out to be the losing team.'  
  
It had inspired confidence in Buffy, until the last sentence. But Buffy had been determined not to lose. Yet here they were, on the losing team.  
  
Buffy found herself wondering what had become of her mother. Joyce Summers hadn't even been in town when they got wind of the apocalypse nor had she been in town when they went into battle. She was probably still safe at her sisters in Nevada. She also wondered about Angel in Los Angeles. She wondered if he would be able to stop what was happening, manage what she had failed so spectacularly at.  
  
She supposed she had better say something before it happened, but she still couldn't find her voice. She didn't know what to say either,  
  
'Gee guys this is it. Thanks a lot for sticking by me but you really should have got out while you could.'  
  
She didn't think that was really appropriate. Sorry seemed to one of the many things she had to say. Thank you was another, yet she couldn't open her mouth to say anything.  
  
She suddenly realized how silent the room was, yet no one had commented on it, no one had even filled the silence and it wasn't awkward. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts and she wondered what they were all thinking. She realized she would never know, and at that moment she found her voice,  
  
"I love you all." She said so softly, that she even doubted that she hadn't said it, that it had been in her head. But when she looked up she found all eyes on her, watching her intently as small smiles crept onto each of their faces and she continued,  
  
"I'm sorry for all of this but you've all been great. You've all been brave even though you've done some daft things." She said as she cast her eyes down at Giles whose head was still cradled in her lap. He had saved her life, but she knew it was at his cost,  
  
"You've all been there at one time or another for me, even when I pushed you away you always came back." She was thinking of the night Giles, Willow, Xander and herself had argued due to Spike,  
  
"And for that I owe you a thank you. All of you." There was a mutual silence in the room for a moment, until a faint voice came from her lap,  
  
"I think th-that I-it's u-u-us who owe you t-th-the thank-you." Giles voice was low and rasping, his last ounce of strength going into his words, and they meant everything to her. But they hurt at the same time. He shouldn't be the one saying thank you,  
  
"I don't think thank you covers it." Xander was now saying,  
  
"I don't want to say goodbye." Willow said, trying to hold back tears,  
  
"I don't want this to be it." Tara was holding her tightly as she started to cry.  
  
Buffy couldn't stop herself then. She let all the tears she had been holding back fall. She was going to die. Her friends were going to die as well. They were all going to die in the arms of someone who they were in love with, body and soul. Riley wasn't here; he was already dead. Angel wasn't here. He was in Los Angeles, living his own life with Cordelia and Wesley.  
  
Xander had Anya.  
  
Willow had Tara.  
  
All she had was her dying Watcher.  
  
ALL SHE HAD?  
  
Giles just wasn't all she had. Giles was everything she had. Always there even when she had no one else. Always looking out for her. Always the one who set her straight.  
  
She watched as he opened his eyes one last time, and she could feel it too.  
  
This was it.  
  
This was the end of the world, and she didn't want it to be.  
  
She suddenly had a thousand other things she wanted to say, wanted to do. But she couldn't.  
  
Buffy Summers had failed as a friend.  
  
The Slayer had failed as a defender.  
  
*********************************************************************  
  
To be continued?  
The end of the world from another point of view?  
It's up to you. 


End file.
